Nextclaw Autostart

NextClaw Autostart

This built-in skill helps the AI guide users through NextClaw autostart and reboot recovery without turning service registration into a hidden side effect.

Core Position

• npm i -g nextclaw installs the CLI only. It should not silently register a host autostart service.
• nextclaw start starts the current background service. Without host autostart registration, the service usually needs to be started again after an OS reboot.
• Autostart must be explicit, inspectable, diagnosable, and removable.
• Prefer a product-level guided setup flow over asking normal users to understand launchd, systemd, or Task Scheduler first.
• Do not confuse three separate meanings:
  • login/boot autostart,
  • crash supervision,
  • update/restart relaunch.

Existing Commands

• macOS login autostart: nextclaw service install-launch-agent
• Linux user-level login autostart: nextclaw service install-systemd --user
• Linux system-level boot autostart: sudo nextclaw service install-systemd --system
• Windows login autostart: nextclaw service install-task
• Status: nextclaw service autostart status
• Diagnostics: nextclaw service autostart doctor
• macOS uninstall: nextclaw service uninstall-launch-agent
• Linux user-level uninstall: nextclaw service uninstall-systemd --user
• Linux system-level uninstall: sudo nextclaw service uninstall-systemd --system
• Windows uninstall: nextclaw service uninstall-task

Workflow

1. Determine whether the user is asking for current behavior, product design, setup help, or troubleshooting.
2. For current behavior, clearly separate:
   • CLI installation,
   • one-time/background runtime start,
   • host autostart registration.
3. For setup help:
   • identify the OS,
   • inspect current autostart status,
   • explain what registration will change,
   • ask before performing a mutating registration command,
   • verify with nextclaw service autostart status or doctor,
   • tell the user how to disable it.
4. For troubleshooting, collect:
   • OS and install method,
   • nextclaw --version,
   • nextclaw status,
   • nextclaw service autostart status,
   • nextclaw service autostart doctor.
5. Diagnose whether the issue is:
   • autostart not registered,
   • registration failed,
   • executable path changed after update,
   • permission/scope mismatch,
   • port conflict,
   • service starts then crashes.

Product Guidance

When improving NextClaw itself, prefer an explicit guided path:

• nextclaw setup or an equivalent UI/agent-guided setup should detect OS and current status.
• If autostart is not enabled, explain the reboot impact and offer to register it.
• After registration, run status/doctor and show the disable command.
• nextclaw start may suggest autostart setup, but should not silently enable it.
• NPM install should remain side-effect free.

Success Criteria

• The user understands whether NextClaw will come back after reboot.
• The AI can point to the host mechanism responsible for autostart.
• The AI can diagnose failed setup with actionable next steps.
• Every mutating registration path has explicit user consent and a matching uninstall path.
• Restart semantics stay precise: hot reload, manual restart, update relaunch, and host autostart are not mixed.